Craving You Page 3

  “Are you still planning to look at houses next week?” She asked carefully.

  “Yep.”

  I’d flown in the day before my brother’s party to get settled and to have time to relax, but my visit wasn’t purely to see family. I’d come to Kansas because I had been offered a job with a local digital media agency, and I had accepted. My dad and brother were the only ones I’d told. I hadn’t let anyone else know that I was going to be moving back. I didn’t really want to.

  After high school, I’d left Kansas for a reason, and that reason was David Walker. I’d never admitted to my brother that David had been the one who punched out Eric. I’d never told him that David was the reason I hadn’t dated again until I had graduated and landed safely in California. Hell, I didn’t even tell him that I’d sprouted a huge crush on David at some point. As far as I was concerned, that was none of my brother’s business.

  But it had been 13 years. I was no longer the 15-year-old sophomore who was hoping for an invite to the prom. Now I was 28 years old, and I was enjoying my career. I loved the companies that I worked with, and I loved helping people solve their marketing problems. It was everything I’d ever wanted. Part of me had hidden away in Monterey because it was beautiful, but there was another part of me that was just scared to be who I was.

  Now I was old enough to know better, and I was old enough to chase after what I really wanted.

  And what did I want?

  I wanted a lot of things. I wanted to live in Kansas and to be closer to my dad and brother. It wasn’t a secret that Felix and Lauren were getting closer to each other. At some point, my brother was going to want to get married. They were probably going to have kids and have a cute little house and a cookie-cutter life, and I wanted to be there for that. Even if I was on the outside looking in, I wanted to be able to see my nieces and nephews once they came along.

  “Any ideas which neighborhoods you’re going to look in?” Lauren asked. “I work until three every day, but I’d be happy to come look at places with you after school gets out.”

  “I’d like that,” I told her honestly. “And no, I don’t know which neighborhoods I want to look at. Obviously, I don’t have kids, so I don’t need to worry about a good school district. I’m meeting with a realtor on Monday to talk about my options.”

  “Good,” she said. “You went with Polly, right?”

  “I did.”

  “Solid choice,” Lauren nodded. “She helped Felix and I find this place, and I thought she was really honest and fair the entire time. She always helped us understand our options and obligations.”

  “Well, your house is fucking awesome,” I told her honestly. “So, I now have high hopes for my own.”

  She laughed and shook her head. I liked Lauren. She didn’t seem to care if I was a little more crass than my brother, and she didn’t seem to mind that I wasn’t the perfect person all of the time. Most of my life, I’d struggled with figuring out who I was. It was only recently that I was starting to figure out what kind of person I wanted to be.

  “Okay,” she said. “So, it’s a yes on the black dress for the party tomorrow.”

  “Definitely,” I agreed.

  “Good. I’ll let Felix know that you decided. He’ll be relieved we don’t need to go shopping tomorrow.”

  I laughed.

  “Shopping? Felix?”

  “Yeah, he said he’d take us to the mall tomorrow if you didn’t have something fun to wear.”

  “The mall? What are we? Teenagers?”

  “Feels like it sometimes, doesn’t it?”

  “I guess,” I said. “It’s sweet, though, that he wanted to do that.”

  “Well, he at least offered,” Lauren smiled. She started hanging up the dresses I’d tried on but hadn’t chosen to wear to the party. I was going to be staying in their guest room, which also conveniently doubled as Lauren’s closet. For having a teacher’s salary, the girl loved to shop, and I was lucky enough to get to reap the benefits of that.

  “He’s a good brother.”

  “He cares about you a lot,” Lauren told me. “And he’s really excited about your move back.”

  “Really?” I had been nervous when I’d told him I was coming back. I didn’t really know why. My brother had never been anything but supportive, and yet the idea of coming home to Kansas had been slightly terrifying for me.

  “Yeah,” she nodded. “He couldn’t sleep all week.”

  “That’s silly,” I said, but it wasn’t silly. It made me feel great.

  “Your dad, too,” Lauren said.

  “I’m glad he’s happy. I’ve missed them both. It’s good to be back.”

  “Can I ask you something?” Lauren climbed onto the bed and sat close to where I was sitting. I had my legs crossed and she followed suit, imitating my posture.

  “That sounds ominous,” I said.

  “It is, a little,” she wiggled her eyebrows, but then laughed.

  “Sure,” I said.

  “What did you think of me when you met me?”

  “That’s a lot less ominous than I was promised.”

  “Come on.”

  “What did I think of you? I liked you right away. You’re great for Felix.”

  “It’s been a year since we started dating,” she told me. “You know that we met right after his birthday last year?”

  “I remember,” I said. Felix hadn’t had a party. Not for 29. He’d been out at a club a few days after his birthday, though, and he’d run into what he described as the sweetest girl on the planet. He’d taken her home, and the rest was history. Lauren might be a teacher, but she was no prude, and she and my brother couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. Eventually, she moved in with him, and everyone was thrilled for both of them. It was the sort of sickly-sweet love story you only ever saw in movies or read about in books.

  “When you flew out and I got to meet you, I was so excited,” she said.

  “I was a little nervous,” I admitted. I’d flown out to visit Dad, and I’d spent a couple of days with Felix and Lauren. They’d both been so sweet and perfect together. Everything about their relationship was just wonderful. Everything they did made me smile. Together, they were the perfect couple. She pushed him to be a better person, and she kept my brother from working too much. That was important, I thought. It kept him grounded.

  After I’d gone back to Monterey, the two of us had kept in touch. We’d become fast, easy friends, and we’d spent many long nights on the phone or online chatting. Lauren and I seemed to know everything about each other. She was even the first – and only – person I’d told about my totally unacceptable crush on my brother’s BFF.

  Not that it mattered.

  David and I could never happen. I didn’t have time for love or for romance. I was here to buy a house and to celebrate my brother’s milestone birthday with him. That was it. I didn’t need to even toy with the idea that David and I might hook up while I was here. Oh, I bet anything I could give that guy a run for his money in bed, but he was also my brother’s best friend.

  He was off limits in all of the worst ways.

  He probably viewed me like a little sister, anyway.

  I’d confessed to Lauren that I liked him only once. I was drunk, and we both avoided talking about it ever again. I wasn’t even sure if she remembered all of the things I’d said.

  “Nervous? Why?”

  “Because you’re the girl my brother loves,” I told Lauren. That was the truth, too. My brother didn’t exactly find it easy to fall in love. He was the kind of guy who picked one girl and then loved her for an eternity. For him, Lauren was definitely the one. There was no doubt in my mind about it. In fact, there was a part of me that was pretty sure he was going to propose tomorrow, but I’d never tell Lauren that. I wasn’t about to ruin the surprise if it did happen.

  And I wasn’t going to get her hopes up if it didn’t happen.

  “Thanks,” she said. “I don’t know why, but I’
m still kind of nervous around your family sometimes.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded, and I felt bad for Lauren.

  “Trust me,” I said. “There is nothing to be nervous about.”

  “You say that now, but you’re so much more confident than me.”

  “Am I?”

  She nodded.

  “You exude confidence,” Lauren said.

  I just shrugged. How could I explain that this was something entirely new for me? The entire “some people are just confident” thing was fake, in my opinion. Yeah, some people were confident. Most people weren’t. Most of the time, people who were “confident” were just cocky.

  “I wasn’t always like this,” I finally said.

  “You weren’t?”

  “No. When we were kids, I was pretty shy. Ask anyone. Ask David,” I said before I could stop myself.

  “Oh, I don’t think I need to ask David about you,” she smiled.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because I already know what he’s going to say.”

  “You do?”

  Lauren nodded. Then she leaned forward, as though she was going to tell me a secret. I got slumber party vibes big-time. Suddenly, it felt like we were teenagers all over again, but this time, with the knowledge you only got once you survived your shitty twenties.

  “Okay,” I said. “What?”

  “He always asks about you,” she said, lowering her voice.

  “Why are you whispering?”

  “Because I don’t want Felix to know we’re gossiping.”

  “I don’t think Felix is going to care.”

  “Trust me,” she smiled. “He cares about this.”

  “About what?”

  “About you and David?”

  “There’s no me and David,” I said.

  “There could be if you wanted there to be,” Lauren said. She sounded almost eager, and I hated to break her heart, but I couldn’t let this go on. Did I like David? Back in the day, yeah. Had I been guilty of cyberstalking him and checking to see what he looked like these days? Also yes. That wasn’t really my fault, though. My brother was his best friend, so anytime Felix posted pictures of him and David together, I was bound to see those.

  And yeah, David was super, completely fuckable.

  He was so totally, absolutely fuckable that it made me sick.

  I couldn’t let Lauren think that I wanted to date someone like David. Even if I wanted that, deep down I knew that it could never happen. I was too much of a player, and I was too busy. I didn’t have time to carve room in my life for someone like David. Besides, falling for my brother’s best friend would be messy. It would be really, totally, terribly messy. Maybe Lauren did remember my drunken confession after all. It didn’t matter because I needed to crush that idea right now.

  “I hate to be the one to tell you this,” I finally said. “But I like sex, like, a lot.”

  Lauren blushed.

  “I love it, Lauren. Seriously. I’m kind of addicted.”

  “Like, you’re a sex addict?”

  “Not like that,” I said. “Look, I’m not really sure how to tell you this, so I’m just going to say it. I’m kind of a sex freak. I love sex, and I love having different partners, and I love being with people for exactly one night. Am I going to want to settle down one day? I’m sure that I will. Probably, I will. Everyone does, right? But not just yet. Not for me.”

  “What about if you met the right guy?” Lauren asked, pressing me.

  “What about it?”

  “If you met someone you loved. Would you want to, you know?”

  “Get married and have babies?”

  She nodded, biting her fingernails. It was a bad habit that she needed to stop. I couldn’t exactly say anything, though. I was the kind of person who twirled my hair when I was nervous. We all had our little tics.

  “I don’t know.”

  “He’s a good person.”

  “David?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He’s a heartless bastard,” I pointed out. “He wins even more cases than my brother, and he’s completely ruthless.”

  “They both are,” she agreed with a sigh. “But I don’t love Felix any less for it.”

  “Good,” I said. “I’m glad my brother has someone who’s so crazy about him.”

  “And what about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “You think you’re going to give it a go with David tomorrow? Not a relationship,” she quickly added. “I get that you aren’t ready for something like that right now, even if it’s with him. Just, you know...” Lauren blushed, and then she smiled again. “Just a one-night adventure.” Lauren started laughing.

  I smiled. Would I give it a go? With David? I shouldn’t. I didn’t want to date him. I didn’t want to hurt him. He was hot, though, and so I was I. The two of us could have a lot of fun together if the odds were right.

  “Let’s just say that if the opportunity presents itself, I’ve never been one to say no.”

  3

  David

  I knew the second Zoey arrived at the party because there was almost a collective gasp as she walked into the room. Every head turned to see Zoey Lane entering the banquet hall in the world’s tightest, tiniest dress. It hugged every curve, and she looked good enough to eat.

  “There’s no fucking way she’s wearing panties under that dress,” I said aloud.

  “Hey!” Felix punched me gently in the shoulder. “That’s my little sister.”

  “Hate to break it to you,” I said. “But she’s not little.”

  “She is to me.”

  “Well, not to anyone else.”

  Zoey Lane looked like she was a sex toy. There was no other way to describe the confident, seductive woman who walked into the ballroom Felix had rented to celebrate his 30th birthday. There was a DJ, and there was dancing, and people were already getting drunk, and she fit right in. She was perfect. Everything about her was perfect.

  “Don’t do what you’re thinking,” Felix said.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, sipping my whiskey.

  “You’re thinking about making a move.”

  “I’m not,” I lied.

  “Look, you can be a little bit heartless, and she’s...”

  Perfect.

  Beautiful.

  Gorgeous.

  Zoey Lane’s legs seemed to stretch on forever in that dress. Seriously, it should have been illegal for anyone to own a piece of clothing that hot. If she wasn’t careful, it was going to fall right off, and I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

  “She’s what?” I asked.

  “She’s my sister,” he said.

  “You’re protective. I get it.”

  “You would be, too, if she was your sister.”

  “It doesn’t look like she needs to be protected,” I pointed out. Felix’s eyes followed mine, and sure enough, we could both see that Zoey had made herself very comfortable. She was standing between two of our fellow attorneys. Jason and Taylor Watson were a tag-teaming duo. They won cases together in the courtroom and they won unicorns together in the bedroom. If there was ever a perfect picture of a power couple, it was them.

  “Son of a bitch,” he growled, looking at them. Taylor was already running her hand up and down Zoey’s arm. Zoey seemed completely enamored with both of them, and I wondered if she was thinking of going home with them. Hell, she hadn’t even had a drink yet, and already the Watson couple was making a move. Nope. I couldn’t have that. Tonight was my night to shoot my shot. I wasn’t about to lose to the Watsons.

  Without a word to Felix, I walked directly toward Zoey. I was halfway across the banquet hall when she noticed me, and our eyes locked. I saw so many different emotions in those eyes: excitement, anxiety, fear. She was a wild one, to be sure, and I wanted to play with her in all of the worst ways. I didn’t want to tame her, no. I just wanted to harness all of that wild, unmanageable energy t
hat was flowing through her veins.

  Zoey said something, but I couldn’t hear what. She turned, and she walked away from Taylor and Jason. The couple seemed a bit disappointed, but not mad. It was hard to get Taylor or Jason terribly worked up. Although they were known for being polyamorous, they were also wildly respectful of other people. If someone didn’t want to play, they never pushed. I had to admire that about them.

  “Where’d Zoey go?” I asked when I got close to them. Jason and Taylor were holding hands while sipping their drinks. They turned to me.

  “Zoey?” Jason asked, confused.

  “The girl who was just here?” Taylor asked, curious.

  “Yeah.”

  “She said she had to use the restroom,” Taylor told me. “She went that way.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “Hey,” Jason asked. “How do you know her?”

  “Zoey?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Trust me,” I said. “The two of us go way back.”

  Jason looked at me carefully, as though he was trying to read my mind. Knowing Jason, he probably was. It was fine, though. Jason was calculating, but he was fair. If he suspected that I had been into Zoey for a while, he’d back down. He was a shark in the courtroom, but he was a gentleman in real life.

  “Good luck,” Jason finally said. “I feel like you might need it.”

  Taylor just smiled and nodded as I took off, and the couple began scouting the room again, looking for the lucky girl they’d be taking home with them. I had to admit that their arrangement seemed to work well for them. I didn’t have time to loiter and see who they chose, though. I was on a mission.

  When I reached the hallway, Zoey was there. She was scurrying away from the banquet hall, but she wasn’t headed toward the restrooms. Instead, she was going straight for the front doors of the hotel. Was the little minx running away? I couldn’t have that. I’d waited far too long for the chance to talk to Zoey. I wasn’t going to miss out on that now.

  She didn’t look over her shoulder. She just pushed on the doors and headed outside. I started to run. What if she had called a ride or was going to try to grab a taxi? Nope. I only came here to see her. Out of all of the noble, wonderful reasons I could have had for sharing in my best friend’s celebration, the real reason I’d shown up was to see his little sister.